Miscellaneous public records

Almost any public record can be useful to the genealogist in some way,
particularly if the ancestor being hunted held some kind of public
office - as so many of the 'manor-holding' classes did, if only
at a local level. Some of the public records not already covered
in other sections are listed below. The works below are some of the
main printed editions, but - as elsewhere - there are many others,
particularly local extracts and collections, and of course a huge number of
records remain unpublished.

For source material from miscellaneous public records on the internet,
click here

Augmentation Office

The Court of Augmentations and Revenues, incorporated into the Exchequer in 1554
as the Augmentation Office, had administered the estates of the crown
- the 'Augmentations' being the lands seized by Henry VIII when
he dissolved the monasteries.

Inventory of Particulars for Grants, preserved among the Records of the late Augmentation Office
[mostly Henry VIII, but continuing to Elizabeth I]
in the Ninth Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records,
Appendix II, pp.148-232 (London, 1848) and Tenth Report..., Appendix II, pp.223-309 (London, 1849)
E318. Brief English abstracts (including names of manors etc),
arranged alphabetically by the surnames of those to whom the
lands were to be granted; many of these lands had belonged to the dissolved
monasteries

Exchequer of Receipt

The Exchequer of Receipt, or Lower Exchequer, was responsible for the actual
receipt and issue of money.

F. Devon, ed., Issues of the Exchequer:
being a collection of payments made out of His Majesty's revenue,
from King Henry III to King Henry VI inclusive ...
(London, 1837)
Extracts, translated into English, from Issue Rolls in E403

F. Devon, ed., Issue roll of Thomas de Brantingham, Bishop of Exeter,
Lord High Treasurer of England: containing payments made out of His Majesty's revenue
in the 44th year of King Edward III., A.D. 1370
(London, 1835)
English translations, from E403/439,440

Auditor's Patent Books (Exchequer of Receipt) [First Series]
[1538-1553] in the Forty-Ninth Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records,
Appendix, pp.360-375 (London, 1888)
Index of names in E403/2447-2450. The Patent Books record the grants of
paid offices by Letters Patent, and other authorisations for payments

Memoranda Rolls

The Exchequer Memoranda Rolls contain notes on a wide variety of matters
made by the two 'remembrancers': the King's Remembrancer (E159; from 1218)
and the Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer (E368,370; from 1199). These two series
are essentially duplicates until the late 13th century. They include
some enrolled private deeds.

H. Cole, ed., Documents illustrative of English History in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries,
selected from the Records of the Department of the Queen's Remembrancer of the Exchequer
(Record Commission; London, 1844)
Includes Latin transcripts, in record type, of
the Praestita Roll of 7 John (E101/325/1) and the Misae Roll of 14 John (E101/349/2)

Treasury

T1 (from 1557). From the second half of the 16th century, the Treasury gradually
separated from, and ultimately replaced in most respects, the Exchequer.

SP1-15 (1509-1625; continued for later reigns). Under the Tudors, much of the administrative
business previously carried out by the
Chancery passed instead to officials later known as the Secretaries
of State; the Chancery concentrated instead on its function as a
court of equity. In addition to the domestic series
of State Papers, treated below, there were also foreign (SP68-106),
Scottish (SP49-53,58,59) and Irish (SP60-66) series of
papers, many of which have also been printed.
The following National Archives information leaflets are available online:

Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the reign of Henry VIII ...
(23 vols in 38 parts; London, 1862-1932)
Abstracts. Includes State Papers, Patent Rolls, Confirmation Rolls (for 1509-1514),
Supplementary Patent Rolls, Warrants for the Great Seal, and much other miscellaneous
material

State papers published under the authority of His Majesty's Commission:
King Henry the Eighth
(11 vols; Commission for State Papers; London, 1830-1852)
Selected transcripts

Calendar of State Papers, domestic series, of the reigns of Edward VI, Mary,
Elizabeth I and James I ...
(12 vols; vols 1-6 cover the Tudor reigns, with addenda in vols 7 and 12;
London, 1856-1872)
The earlier volumes are superseded by the recent revised editions (see below)

Certain counties were in medieval times largely exempt from the direct jurisdiction
of the king - these were the counties palatine of
Chester (CHES; from the 13th century), Durham (DURH; from the 13th century) and
Lancaster (PL; from 1351). They were administered by scaled-down versions of the
departments of central government, and had their own jurisdictions of both
common law
and equity - they also produced separate series of
inquisitions post mortem.
A similar situation prevailed in the estates of the Duchy of Lancaster (DL; from 1351),
which lay scattered widely throughout the country.

Palatinate of Chester

Welsh Records. Calendar of all warrants, signed bills, and privy seals, of the reigns of Hen. VII.
and Hen. VIII., with one of Hen. VI. and one of Elizabeth ...
in The Twenty-Sixth Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records,
Appendix, pp.16-31 (London, 1865)
CHES1/2,4. Brief English abstracts, alphabetically arranged by surname (with cross-references)

Durham Records. Calendar of the Cursitor's Records: Chancery Enrolments [1333-1617]:
1333-c.1365: in The Thirty-First Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, Appendix, pp.42-168 (London, 1870)
c.1365-1388: in The Thirty-Second Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, Appendix I, pp.264-330 (London, 1871)
1388-1437: in The Thirty-Third Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, Appendix, pp.43-210 (London, 1872)
1438-1457: in The Thirty-Fourth Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, Appendix, pp.163-264 (London, 1873)
1457-?1483: in The Thirty-Fifth Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, Appendix, pp.76-156 (London, 1874)
1485-c.1530: in The Thirty-Sixth Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, Appendix, pp.1-160 (London, 1875)
1530-1606: in The Thirty-Seventh Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, Appendix I, pp.1-171 (London, 1876)
1606-1617: in The Fortieth Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, Appendix, pp.480-520 (London, 1879)
DURH3/29-94. Brief English abstracts; within each roll, arranged chronologically for each
initial letter of surname (with cross-references)

Palatinate of Lancaster

Duchy of Lancaster: Calendar of Rolls of the Chancery of the County Palatine
[11-14 Henry IV, 31-36 Henry VI, 1-9 Edward IV]
in The Thirty-Seventh Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, Appendix I, pp.172-179 (London, 1876)
PL2: Palatinate Close Rolls. English abstracts (unindexed)

Duchy of Lancaster Records: Calendar of Privy Seals of the County Palatine: Richard II
in the Forty-Third Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records,
Appendix I, pp.363-370 (London, 1882)
Part of PL3/1. Brief English abstracts, arranged alphabetically by surname, with cross-references

Duchy of Lancaster

Duchy of Lancaster: Calendar of Rolls of the Chancery of the County Palatine
[1354-18 H VI]
in The Thirty-Second Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records,
Appendix I, pp.331-365 (London, 1871) and
The Thirty-Third Annual Report ..., Appendix, pp.1-42 (London, 1872)
DL37/1-7: Rolls of Palatinate of the Duke, and Close Rolls of the Palatinate.
English abstracts (unindexed)

Duchy of Lancaster. Calendar of royal charters, William II-Richard II
in The Thirty-First Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records,
Appendix, pp.1-41 (London, 1870)
DL10. Brief English abstracts, arranged chronologically (unindexed)

General and special liveries, licences to enter, and grants of wardship and marriage during
minority, Henry VII to James I
in The Thirty-Ninth Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, Appendix, pp.549-562 (London, 1878)
DL12/19. English abstracts, arranged alphabetically by surname (unindexed)

PC2 (from 1481) and Privy Seal Office records in the British Museum. The Privy Council,
in medieval times,
was a small body consisting of the monarch's senior counsellors.
In addition to the main business of
government, it was responsible for the hearing of private petitions addressed to the king -
a function
which developed into the equity jurisdiction of the Chancery
in the late 14th century. The Privy Seal,
in the late medieval system, was used as a preliminary authorisation for royal letters to
be issued
under the Great Seal; the Privy Seal Office also acted as the Privy Council's secretariat until
1540.
The following information is available online:

Sir N.H. Nicolas, ed., Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council of England [1386-1542]
(7 vols; Record Commission; London, 1834-1837)
Transcripts, mainly Latin, in record type, from Privy Seal Office documents
now in the British Museum and material from the first Privy Council register in PC2

J.R. Dasent, ed., Acts of the Privy Council of England [1542-1604]
(32 vols; London, 1890-1907; continued in later volumes)
Transcripts, from the Privy Council Registers in PC2

SO3,4 (from 1584; earlier signet letters survive elsewhere). In the system which had evolved by the early 15th century, the
signet was the seal used in the first stage of the preparation of grants to be issued
under the Great Seal (the Privy Seal being used in an intermediate stage).
The following information is available online:

J.L. Kirby, ed., Calendar of Signet Letters of Henry IV and Henry V (1399-1422)
(London, 1978)
Surviving letters, from various classes of public records and six other repositories.
English abstracts (and some French and English specimen transcripts), with indexes to persons
and places

W.P.W. Phillimore, ed., An index to bills of privy signet, commonly called signet bills, 1584 to 1596 and
1603 to 1624, with a calendar of writs of privy seal, 1601 to 1603
(British Record Society, Index Library 4; London, 1890)
An edition of the contemporary indexes (SO4) to names to names in the docquet books (SO3),
which summarised the 'King's Bills' passing through the Signet Office